I recommend against this reloading gimmick

[gmerkt]

Based on personal experience, I would not recommend the Frankford Arsenal Pile Driver bullet puller. I don't usually buy the latest gimmick. On another thread, we've discussed pulling bullets. I have a Hornady collet bullet puller, plus the usual kinetic hammer style pullers. I needed another caliber size for my collet puller, and somehow I ran across the Pile Driver. I should've read the reviews in greater depth. So on my next Midway order, I included one of these things.

The Midway order came today. I opened up the Pile Driver, read the instructions, and mounted it on a structural beam in my garage. The thing was slow in process, the shell holder very tight, and the device made a lot of racket in operation. I'd used it a few strokes before Mrs. Merkt came running downstairs, wondering what was going on. Mind you, she doesn't come down there even when gunshots go off.

Worse, the Pile Driver is pretty cheaply made. Evidence of which was the carrier (holds the cartridge during the process) fell apart while I was doing 18 pieces of .30-06.

There is a little bin under the carrier that the bullet and powder drop into. This bin has a kind of shock absorbing material in the bottom to buffer the impact of the bullet. The .30-06 cartridges that I was cracking had FMJ pointed bullets. Which had already penetrated the cushion material all the way through and my guess was it wasn't long before they broke the plastic bin. Might not be an issue with pistol bullets.

These rotten things (made in China) cost over $60. Mine is going back to Midway, I've already got the return UPS label.

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[po18guy]

"Attn: Larry Potterfield..."

I have an ancient RCBS inertia hammer and more recently the Hornady, which is quite good. Just needs a thicker handle for dainty pinkies.

 

[MikeInOr]

Interesting, I have never heard of that puller before. Cool concept. I will take your word for it that it is a really lousy implementation. It does not look very well made at all. I just watched the "Ultimate Reloader" video review of it. Is there any piece of loading gear that guy doesn't like?

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[TommyFun]

Wondered how they really were. Glad you took a chance and let us know their quality.

I'll stick with the collet RCBS and kinetic hammer at this time.

 

[gmerkt]

When I looked up to see who markets this thing, I discovered a business address in Columbia, Missouri. Hmmm. Same city that Midway USA is located in. So I Googled who owns the Frankford Arsenal brand. One entry said Frankford Arsenal isn't owned by Midway, but by Battenfeld Technologies. So then I looked up Battenfeld Technologies, and read that "the Potterfield family sold their interest in Battenfeld Technologies in 2023" so I guess there is/was a connection anyway.

 

[gmerkt]

One time I wondered how it was that Sierra Bullets and Starline Brass happened to be in the same city in Missouri. It didn't just happen, they are owned by the same people and the buildings are across the street from each other.

 

[RVTECH]

Interesting, I have never heard of that puller before

I heard of it on another forum with similar experiences from that owner.

I'll stick with my pipe flaring tool clamp and RC press.

Free and hassle free!

 

[gmerkt]

I'll stick with my pipe flaring tool clamp and RC press.

That's a good enough idea. The collet pullers have a concentrated bearing area, aren't apt to leave any extra marks like the flaring tool might. The flaring tool might work better on cast bullets, as a matter of fact. I haven't tried using this. Unfortunately, I let my dad's go when we cleaned out my mom's garage years ago. Next time I'm in Habitat for Humanity, I'll look for one. I'm into trying anything that works even if I already have a plan.

 

[RVTECH]

aren't apt to leave any extra marks like the flaring tool might.

Actually the flaring tool leaves virtually no marks. Look closely at the pic and you will see the 'grooves' are pretty flat and not too sharp.

When you get one don't tighten it up too tight on the bullet as it does not need to be. Just snug is all!

 

[thorborg]

Because it was cheap, and works, so never saw the need to buy another, I've only used the inertia puller, its only draw back, for some, is it needs a solid, non rebounding surface to do an effective job on the light weight toughies. I still use the same one I bought in early 90's. From the beginning and the next 40 years, every time I whack it, I expect it to break, cause its plastic!
Not yet.
So far.
I have a flaring tool, early on I didn't have a press, but tried it after I got one, went back to the plastic one, to fidgety for me, and only slightly less Rube Goldberg than the Frankford Arsenal Pile Driver.
Pile Driver, Wow, seems a complicated fix for a simple problem. thanks @gmerkt for posting that, it was fun to see it!

 

[MikeInOr]

The Frankford Arsenal Pile Driver bullet puller is an inertia puller with springs instead of a handle. They did absolutely nothing to make it faster to use than a hammer inertia puller... and from what I have seen it looks like it would actually take longer to use than a hammer inertial puller.

I have a pretty complete set of RCBS shell holders for my single stage press. My first question would be will a standard shell holder hold a case well enough by the rim that it wouldn't rip the rim off if used in an inertia puller?? It would be a whole lot faster if a round to be unloaded could be slid in a shell holder, like a shell is slid into a single stage press, instead of using a collet like the FA puller and every other inertia puller?

Just thinking out load how I would try to design an inertial puller to be quicker. I have too many projects to consider making one myself but I like the mental exercise.

 

[gmerkt]

I still use the same one I bought in early 90's. From the beginning and the next 40 years, every time I whack it, I expect it to break, cause its plastic!
Not yet.
So far.

I've broken several, always replaced for free by RCBS. The earlier versions had aluminum handles with the plastic bits bonded on. The usual failure for the ones I've destroyed was the cap that secures the shell holder. It will only take so many cycles of use.

Don't think that I make so many mistakes as to warrant multiple breakages. I've often used these after buying salvage ammo. Until I got smart and bought a collect puller. I still use the "hammer" style for small batches.

Salvage USGI rifle ammo with the bullets secured with asphaltum can take a terrible toll on these tools. The secret is to break the seal by running the cartridge through a bullet seating die, and push the bullet a skosh deeper. Then tap it out with the inertial tool.

My first question would be will a standard shell holder hold a case well enough by the rim that it wouldn't rip the rim off if used in an inertia puller??

I don't think a standard shell holder would brake, those are made of steel. The stock collet that comes with these tools is only aluminum and those wear out.

It would be a whole lot faster if a round to be unloaded could be slid in a shell holder, like a shell is slid into a single stage press, instead of using a collet like the FA puller and every other inertia puller?

It's still fiddly like the stock collet. Moreso when inserting a new cartridge, a little bit. Because the stock kind flexes, you can screw the cap mostly on, then just jam a new round in. Rather than fiddling with lining up the "universal" shell holder type.

The downside of the stock collet comes back around to its flexibility. Because when the o-ring gets older, it can release unwanted and you have to put the three segments back together. A time waster.

 

[MikeInOr]

I don't think a standard shell holder would brake, those are made of steel. The stock collet that comes with these tools is only aluminum and those wear out.


It's still fiddly like the stock collet. Moreso when inserting a new cartridge, a little bit. Because the stock kind flexes, you can screw the cap mostly on, then just jam a new round in. Rather than fiddling with lining up the "universal" shell holder type.

When I watched the "ultimate reloader" video the sled you put the cartridge into uses the same collet idea to hold the shell. Using a hammer inertia holder I know messing with putting the shell into and out of the collet is the most time consuming part. This seems like the lowest fruit for improving the classic inertia design to make using it faster.

I wasn't really worried about the steel shell holder from a single stage press breaking. I was more worried about a big cartridge like a 30-06 or 300 win mag ripping the brass rim off of the brass case. Since shell holders only support about 70% of the rim it seems like this would be hard on the case rim. If I find some spare time I will play around with cobbling up a hammer style inertia puller with a shell holder instead of a collet. Even though a 9mm cartridge has a lot less rim than a 30-06 I think the much lighter 9mm shell will be less likely to rip the rim than a heavy 30-06.

The downside of the stock collet comes back around to its flexibility. Because when the o-ring gets older, it can release unwanted and you have to put the three segments back together. A time waster.

I have Harbor Freight O ring assortment pack. I have replaced the O ring on my hammer inertia puller a few times when the old O ring doesn't hold the collet together tightly any more. But I am thinking it would be best to eliminate the collet and O ring altogether.

 

[gmerkt]

I wasn't really worried about the steel shell holder from a single stage press breaking. I was more worried about a big cartridge like a 30-06 or 300 win mag ripping the brass rim off of the brass case. Since shell holders only support about 70% of the rim it seems like this would be hard on the case rim.

I obviously didn't read your previous post properly.

I've torn .223 rims using the Lee Bench Priming Tool. Mainly because the older design of their proprietary shell holder was not correct for the .223 case head. It shared commonality with .32 S&W Long, which most of us know isn't the same as .223 but for years, it was close enough for Lee. The last time (of several) when I complained to Lee about this mismatch, they sent me a new #4 shell holder and it had been redesigned.

The .223 isn't all that robust anyway. But I wouldn't worry too much about breaking a larger centerfire rifle case in the Pile Driver. The .30-06's that I did take apart were old military, they all took more than one go, usually about four blows. The rims are all fine.

After this experience, my opinion is that a physical grip is the best way to pull a bullet. I'm staying with the collet puller for anything more than a few rounds. The major ammo factories that dismantle defective ammo all use some form of physical puller. I've never seen their equipment in operation, but I can envision it. If smart guys "in the business" haven't figured out a way to use inertia ...

Before there was worthwhile residual money in pull-down components and Olin had government contracts to dispose of condemned ammo, they burned it in a big furnace.

 

[Dillon1000]

Based on personal experience, I would not recommend the Frankford Arsenal Pile Driver bullet puller. I don't usually buy the latest gimmick. On another thread, we've discussed pulling bullets. I have a Hornady collet bullet puller, plus the usual kinetic hammer style pullers. I needed another caliber size for my collet puller, and somehow I ran across the Pile Driver. I should've read the reviews in greater depth. So on my next Midway order, I included one of these things.

The Midway order came today. I opened up the Pile Driver, read the instructions, and mounted it on a structural beam in my garage. The thing was slow in process, the shell holder very tight, and the device made a lot of racket in operation. I'd used it a few strokes before Mrs. Merkt came running downstairs, wondering what was going on. Mind you, she doesn't come down there even when gunshots go off.

Worse, the Pile Driver is pretty cheaply made. Evidence of which was the carrier (holds the cartridge during the process) fell apart while I was doing 18 pieces of .30-06.

There is a little bin under the carrier that the bullet and powder drop into. This bin has a kind of shock absorbing material in the bottom to buffer the impact of the bullet. The .30-06 cartridges that I was cracking had FMJ pointed bullets. Which had already penetrated the cushion material all the way through and my guess was it wasn't long before they broke the plastic bin. Might not be an issue with pistol bullets.

These rotten things (made in China) cost over $60. Mine is going back to Midway, I've already got the return UPS label.

I learned a long time ago, if it says Frankford Arsenal don't go near it!

 

[Pete F]

Every time someone starts a thread on bullet pulling, I post this picture of my favorite. If done correctly, it leaves no marks on the bullet and is very fast. Just set it on the top of your reloading press.

 

[edzz]

Thanks for posting this, will likely save others from being disappointed.

Interesting design, unfortunately it looks like the bean counters got their fingers into things going from concept to manufacturing.

 

[red442joe]

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